5 fast facts on the Huskers’ new athletic director

The Huskers found their leader one week after Trev Alberts abruptly bolted for Texas A&M after less than three years on the job.

Dannen is the 17th athletic director in Nebraska history, and the fourth since legendary Tom Osborne retired in 2013.

So, who is Troy Dannen? Here are five quick facts about the new head Husker.

Dannen was born and raised in Marshalltown, Iowa, a town of roughly 28,000 people. It’s a brisk 3½-hour drive from Lincoln. He attended Northern Iowa and then served as the athletic director at his alma mater from 2008-15. 

Dannen leaned into his Midwestern history in his introductory news statement Wednesday.

“Growing up in Iowa, I watched a lot of Nebraska football on Saturdays with my family,” Dannen said. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the state and I’ve found that we share a similar approach to life, work and sports: Work hard, stay humble, compete and expect to win.”

Dannen possesses an intimate understanding of the chief sport — football. He’s served in leadership roles on NCAA committees, including the Football Oversight Committee.

As Tulane’s AD in 2015, Dannen hired the coach who resurrected the Green Wave program — Willie Fritz. Dannen watched as the Green Wave won back-to-back American Athletic Conference titles in 2022 and 2023, including a Cotton Bowl win in 2022.

Dannen left Tulane for Washington in October, and Fritz is now the head man at Houston.

Dannen was at Washington for less than six months, leaving before the Huskies played their first Big Ten competition.

In that short stint, Dannen tried but failed to retain football coach Kalen Deboer, who bolted for Alabama after leading the Huskies to the national championship game. 

He also fired men’s basketball coach Mike Hopkins earlier this month but didn’t find a replacement before accepting the job in Lincoln. 

Dannen also faced shaky financial issues at Washington. According to the Seattle Times, the university’s athletic suffered a loss of nearly $6 million in 2023, and that deficit is expected to expand to $8 million next year.

Just like Nebraska’s last athletic director, Dannen has made the controversial decision to eliminate a sport at an institution.

15 years ago, as the leader of Northern Iowa, Dannen elected to eliminate baseball in part due to financial reasons. Hard feelings still linger in Cedar Falls.

Trev Alberts, of course, eliminated men’s hockey at Omaha.

An interesting bullet point on Dannen’s resume: he spent seven years as the director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union in his home state.

Notably, he oversaw the state’s change from 6-on-6 girls basketball to the traditional 5-on-5 format.

His experience in that role is particularly relevant at Nebraska, where women’s athletics are highly regarded and vastly popular.